Last night in Mississippi, the Greenville City Council unanimously voted in favor of an LGBT-inclusive resolution. Greenville is the fifth city, and the first one in the Delta region of the state -- following Magnolia, Starkville, Hattiesburg and Oxford -- to pass a resolution affirming the important role that LGBT residents play in the local community.

Councilman Errick D. Simmons drafted the resolution and presented it at a special meeting, where it passed 6-0.

"Discrimination in any form has no place in our society. In light of recent alleged remarks made my Donald Sterling, owner of the L.A. Clippers and the wave of efforts to treat classes and/or groups of people differently in our nation, it is only appropriate that City of Greenville adopts a public policy of equality, fairness, and nondiscrimination for all," Simmons said in a statement.

These five communities are leading the fight for LGBT equality in Mississippi. According to a public opinion poll, which HRC conducted in July 2013, the majority of Mississippians support the equal treatment of their LGBT neighbors, friends, family, and loved ones. In fact, 53 percent described discrimination against LGBT people as a problem.

For instance, Mississippi has the single highest rate of gay and lesbian couples raising children of any state in the country but these parents are making do without essential legal protections or inclusion in their community.

HRC’s Project One America aims to dramatically expand LGBT equality in the South through permanent campaigns in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas.

HRC will continue being the single largest national LGBT organizer in the South, with a decades-long track record of political and field campaigns and grassroots education efforts. One-third (500,000) of our 1.5 million members and supporters call the South their home and HRC is present at more than 50 LGBT pride events across the South each year.